Trump’s land of delusion: Disregard the sycophants; the wheels are coming off, if they were ever on

...For some Americans — a minority, I pray — Trump is a pied piper luring the credulous and the uninformed into accepting lies over truth, comfort over reality and conspiracy over fact. In Trump's world and that of his angry minions, the winning doesn't stop, the vast left-wing conspiracy's witch-hunt against him is both broad and insidious, and the truth is what he wants it to be on any given day.

Smudge wrote:

Trump’s land of delusion: Disregard the sycophants; the wheels are coming off, if they were ever on

...For some Americans — a minority, I pray — Trump is a pied piper luring the credulous and the uninformed into accepting lies over truth, comfort over reality and conspiracy over fact. In Trump's world and that of his angry minions, the winning doesn't stop, the vast left-wing conspiracy's witch-hunt against him is both broad and insidious, and the truth is what he wants it to be on any given day.

I was in a restaurant last week watching Trump with the South Korean President on the bar TV so there was no sound. He looked like the most unhappy man on the planet during the press Q & A session. The subtitles were on and somebody in the press must have disagreed when Trump said black was white because, all of a sudden, EVERYTHING HE SAID WAS IN CAPS and his orange face got very red. He finally decided it was time to move on to another question or possibly tirade, I stopped watching at that point.

My point is that I would expect this kind of behavior in a spoiled little rich boy who never got his father's love and who's also currently running his father's fortune into the ground, but I expect more from my President. As vile as I find Mike Pence (although no more so than Mitch McConnell) he's more Presidential than the jackass currently holding the office.

I was back in Iran on May 8 when President Trump made his critical speech to withdraw from the nuclear pact with Iran. The Iranian currency sank 40 percent against the dollar. Markets balked, and there were rumors of the return of the notorious black market in vital drugs, such as chemotherapy medicines, on the back alleys of Nasser-Khosrow Street of Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, charged with monitoring Iranian activities, had confirmed the strict compliance of Iran with its obligations under the agreement. Above all, the Iranian ruling elite had muzzled its right-wing opposition, poured concrete in the pit of its nuclear research facilities, decimated its enrichment centrifuges and drastically reduced the country’s supply of low-enriched uranium.

And yet on May 8, Trump called this agreement “nuclear blackmail” and ordered the U.S. government to reinstate “the highest level of economic sanction” on Iran. This time, returning Iran to a pariah state in the international community could not be blamed on the irresponsibility of Iranian statesmen.

I think the only explanation which makes sense of Trump's outrageous claims of near unlimited presidential power is the fact that he knows Mueller has him dead to rights already. Why NOT try an outrageous strategy and hope for success? He has nothing to lose.

Smudge wrote:

I think the only explanation which makes sense of Trump's outrageous claims of near unlimited presidential power is the fact that he knows Mueller has him dead to rights already. Why NOT try an outrageous strategy and hope for success? He has nothing to lose.

Baywolfe wrote:

Smudge wrote:

I think the only explanation which makes sense of Trump's outrageous claims of near unlimited presidential power is the fact that he knows Mueller has him dead to rights already. Why NOT try an outrageous strategy and hope for success? He has nothing to lose.

Or he's just nuttier than Chinese Chicken Salad. Occam's Razor and all that.

Yes to both points, but he does have skills on many levels (albeit mostly dark ones). He has a lot of animal cunning, and he has a remarkable survival instinct. I'm having to keep reminding myself not to underestimate him. His general stupidity makes for a good blind to hide behind.

Smudge wrote:

Baywolfe wrote:

Smudge wrote:

I think the only explanation which makes sense of Trump's outrageous claims of near unlimited presidential power is the fact that he knows Mueller has him dead to rights already. Why NOT try an outrageous strategy and hope for success? He has nothing to lose.

Or he's just nuttier than Chinese Chicken Salad. Occam's Razor and all that.

Yes to both points, but he does have skills on many levels (albeit mostly dark ones). He has a lot of animal cunning, and he has a remarkable survival instinct. I'm having to keep reminding myself not to underestimate him. His general stupidity makes for a good blind to hide behind.

I don't disagree but I waffle on what that means. I have no doubt he'd grab a child to hold in front of him if he was about to be shot, or trample everybody in his way during a fire, but does that translate to any human cunning?

I think about the distinction that the Bene Gesserit made in Dune between animals (that appear to be human) and real humans. That a human has the cunning to lie still in a trap and play dead until the foe comes to check on him. Little Lord Fauntleroy does not have this tool in his tool belt.

I'm afraid that his signature move will be Scorched Earth. "Fuck it, I'm doomed so everybody else is doomed too". Assuming he even sees any of us as real people.

I can't fault your logic or disagree with you. But I remind myself, too, that the odds of Trump winning the presidency were at least a thousand to one against. And yet he prevailed.

His ability to read the mind of the mob, reflect it back to them and appear to be leading is also a talent. There's a lot of PT Barnum in Trump. I give him credit only so as to not underestimate him.There's a distant chance that he will be successful at killing the Mueller investigation. He's certainly dropping trial balloons at the rate of several per week in an effort to measure public opinion, and figure out how far he can push it. He may still be president at the end of his term. That's a more likely scenario then him getting the job in the first place.

Smudge wrote:

I can't fault your logic or disagree with you. But I remind myself, too, that the odds of Trump winning the presidency were at least a thousand to one against. And yet he prevailed.

His ability to read the mind of the mob, reflect it back to them and appear to be leading is also a talent. There's a lot of PT Barnum in Trump. I give him credit only so as to not underestimate him.There's a distant chance that he will be successful at killing the Mueller investigation. He's certainly dropping trial balloons at the rate of several per week in an effort to measure public opinion, and figure out how far he can push it. He may still be president at the end of his term. That's a more likely scenario then him getting the job in the first place.

Smudge wrote:

Sadly, his misspellings aren't even news anymore. It does make me wonder how many other Presidents had spelling issues but they actually relied on their staff to clean everything up before it went out to the public. I guess we have to credit him for making the effort instead of just saying USMC?

I'm a weak speller who was mostly saved by the emergence of spellcheckers. When I entered the corporate world in the early eighties, my boss at the time told me it was a forgivable sin to be a lousy speller, but an indication of bad judgment to send my correspondence out without having someone else proofread it.

Smudge wrote:

I'm a weak speller who was mostly saved by the emergence of spellcheckers. When I entered the corporate world in the early eighties, my boss at the time told me it was a forgivable sin to be a lousy speller, but an indication of bad judgment to send my correspondence out without having someone else proofread it.

Then he added that bad judgment was something he might fire me for.

Of course, in Trump's case there have been a couple other hints.

The number of bad spellers in the computer programmer community is astronomical. I really think they'll find out that it's in one of our genes. I never studied the spelling lists in primary school and always got As. Once phonics were ingrained in my brain, spelling just came natural.

Baywolfe wrote:

The number of bad spellers in the computer programmer community is astronomical. I really think they'll find out that it's in one of our genes. I never studied the spelling lists in primary school and always got As. Once phonics were ingrained in my brain, spelling just came natural.

My best guess is accurate spelling is less a function of intellect or genetics than how you train your memory. I've said this before but I was profanity proficient in 3 languages at 5 but 25 before I knew what most of them meant.

I compiled a list of most frequently misspelled words years ago, words it's now apparent that will always fail me.

JetRx wrote:

This middle-class bottom line improved as did that of productive family members.

The plutocrat-run mercantile-pwned USofA is being dismantled and forced to stand on its own two legs.

MAGA bitchz

.

Saw your first ship sink and drown from rocking of the boatAnd all that could not sink of swim were just left there to floatI won't leave you drifting down but whoa it makes me wildWith fifty years upon my head to have you call me child.

The bottles stand as empty now, as they were filled beforeTime there was and plenty, but from that cup no moreThough I could not caution all, I still might warn a fewDon't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools

Ship of fools on a cruel seaShip of fools sail away from meIt was later than I thought when I first believed youBut now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.